The Best Credit Cards for Someone New to Points and Miles

This changes when someone has been signing up for cards for a while due to some rules that various credit card issues have. Deciding which cards to get first is pretty straightforward if you know what to look for.

Since most people who are relatively new to points and miles don’t know the best starter cards, here are our top three choices.

These two cards have always been hot topics in points and miles and due to Chase’s 5/24 rule, Chase cards are often the best place to start. Both cards generally offer a decent sign-up bonus and offer bonus points for spending on travel and at restaurants–something that a traveler is likely going to do.

60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months

5,000 Bonus Points after your first purchase and the adding of an authorized user to your account in the first 3 months

No Foreign Transaction Fee

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25% more in travel redemption

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The Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ is the newer and premium version of the card, coming with a higher annual fee but also more benefits. It earns a higher bonus on travel and dining purchases and gives you access to the Priority Pass network of over 1,000 airport lounges around the world.

What’s the difference in the annual fee, you ask? The answer on paper is the Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ has a $450 annual fee while the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a $95 annual fee, but it’s really a little more complicated than that. The Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ also has a $300 annual travel credit benefit that works for any kind of travel purchase including airfare, hotels, and car rentals.

Assuming you spend at least $300 on travel per year, this really can be considered to be an annual fee offset. At this point, your Reserve annual fee is effectively $150 compared with the Preferred’s $95 annual fee.

Are the extra benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ worth an extra $55? To me, without a question. Lounge access, a Global Entry/TSA Pre Check fee credit once every five years, and more bonus points on restaurant and dining purchases are easily worth $55 annually to me. If you agree, the Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ is for you. If not, you can start earning Chase’s Ultimate Rewards points through the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card instead.

The key to being able to use your miles is flexibility and diversification. The more flexible you are when planning your travels, the more likely it is that you can use your miles. Likewise, if you have a bunch of different kinds of miles you can draw from, it is more likely that you will be able to find miles that you can use to book flights based on the current availability for your upcoming trip.

Earning SPG points gives you even more flexibility because you can redeem your Starwood points for stays at Starwood hotels and you can also transfer your SPG points at a 1:3 ratio to Marriott hotels and redeem points for stays there as well!

While the earning rates on this card aren’t super stellar, the transfer bonus effectively makes it a 1.25 mile per dollar spent card on all purchases if you always transfer in increments of 20,000 points which is pretty great for spending that doesn’t otherwise fall into a category bonus.

Chase Freedom® Card and Discover IT – Boost Rewards with 5% Earnings

An easy way to boost your Chase Ultimate Rewards point earning is through spending on the Chase Freedom® Card. The Chase Freedom® Card is a great no annual fee card that can help you rack up a few thousand extra points per year pretty easily.

The Chase Freedom® Card has quarterly rotating categories that earn 5 Ultimate Rewards per dollar spent. Categories frequently include the likes of gas stations, groceries, and Amazon.com. In other words, places that most people are very likely to spend money throughout the year!

Discover it® - Cashback Match™

0% intro APR for 14 months from date of first transfer, for transfers under this offer that post to your account by April 10, 2018

Regular APR

12.24% to 24.24%
Variable±

Annual Fee

$0

Rewards Program

Cashback Bonus®

Bonuses & Rewards

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5% in rotating categories each quarter like Gas, Dining, Amazon.com, Wholesale Clubs and more

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1% on Travel

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1% on Groceries

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1% on All Other Purchases

Up to 5% cash back offer

Discover automatically matches all the cash back you earn dollar for dollar at the end of your first year

No Foreign Transaction Fee

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3% balance transfer fee

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What’s next?

Beyond these cards that offer extreme versatility, the cards that you consider should be based on your individual travel goals. If you never stay in hotels, ignore those hotel cards. If you’re planning a honeymoon and want to redeem at an extremely fancy hotel, focus on cards that offer a sign-up bonus in terms of number of nights instead of points.

If you always fly with your wife or husband and travel mostly domestically and to the Caribbean, the Southwest cards might be a great option–and make sure you do it in a way that you earn the Southwest Companion Pass while you’re at it!

There are a bunch of great credit cards that offer extremely valuable rewards, you just have to decide what you want and look at what credit cards will best help you get there. Above we listed three cards that will be great for nearly everyone, but there are many more that will fit individual travelers’ needs and help you achieve your travel goals if you have a particular route in mind.